MT. CARMEL, Ill. -- Volunteer State led for mere seconds of the first half in Wednesday night's non-conference game against Wabash Valley. 

In the second half, though, that's about how long Wabash Valley led. 

Seconds after Jakobi Heady hit a 3-point field goal to give the Warriors their first and only lead of the second half, 42-41, Vol State embarked on a game-changing 16-3 spurt over the next five minutes and went on to post a 78-65 victory in the first game of the new year for both clubs. 

WVC fell to 8-7 with the loss. The Pioneers snapped a four-game losing streak and improved to 3-10. 

Ksuan Casey, who scored 18 points, went inside for the first three baskets of the game, and the Warriors quickly built an eight-point lead three times in the first 10 minutes. 

Vol State slowly began to cut the deficit, and when Terrance Cross hit a layup with seconds left in the first half, the Pioneers had their first lead, 34-33. 

Casey then hit a soft turnaround in the lane that beat the horn, and WVC was back up by one point at the break. 

When Vol State scored the first five points of the second half in short order to go up, 39-35, suddenly the Warriors were playing catch-up. And they did this time, with Heady's triple giving the hosts the last lead they would have with 15:38 left.  

42-41. It was all downhill after that. 

Zivko Damjanovic, a 6-foot-8 freshman from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, went inside to score the first of 10 unanswered Pioneer points. 

The Warrior deficit got as high as 12 points with three minutes remaining. But consecutive baskets from Heady and Casey, plus two free throws from Jalen Boyd, who played his first game after gaining eligibility, and suddenly there was hope. 

WVC trailed only 67-61 with 1:45 left. 

Vol State's Beljwok Adiang ended the uprising with a 3-ball near the one-minute mark, and the string played out from there. 

Heady led the way for Wabash Valley with 20 points. Boyd, in his debut, finished with 10 points. 

Asa Hardyway, a 6-1 freshman from Nashville, Tenn., led Volunteer State with 25 points. He scored nine of the 16 points in the Pioneers' decisive getaway. 

WVC will try and end a three-game losing streak when it heads for Gallatin, Tenn. on Monday, Jan. 9th for a rematch at Vol State. The tip-off will be at 7:30 p.m. CST. 

The next Warrior home game is on Wednesday, Jan. 11 against Region 24 opponent Lewis & Clark.